A PKR lawmaker has criticised Attorney-General Tan Sri Idrus Harus for entertaining requests by fugitive financier Low Taek Jho @ Jho Low to settle the ongoing charges against him in Malaysia.
“Why were they not rejected from the outset?” Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim asked after Idrus confirmed that the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) rejected all offers of reaching a settlement with Low.
“Isn’t the job of the attorney-general to bring back Jho Low to Malaysia to be put on trial and become a key witness in the trial of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak?” Hassan added.
Yesterday (July 16), The Edge reported that Low, the alleged mastermind of the 1Malaysia Development Board (1MDB) scandal, had supposedly offered RM1.5 bil to the Malaysian government to settle his charges.
Apandi later said he had been approached by Kobre & Kim, a Washington-based law firm said to be representing Low, to arrange meetings between them and Idrus to discuss the repatriation of monies allegedly siphoned by Low from 1MDB.
However, despite the meetings looking “positive”, they were eventually called off by the AGC “for reasons best known to them”, Malaysiakini quoted Apandi as saying.
In a statement last night, Hassan questioned why Low was willing to offer such an exorbitant amount to the AGC to drop his charges if he believed was truly innocent.
“Is Jho Low now trying to bribe the Malaysian Government?” he asked. “Is Jho Low’s view of the judicial system in Malaysia so low that everything can be traded?”
Hassan, a member of the Parliamentary Special Committee on Corruption, called for Low to return to Malaysia and face his charges in court – “not run away and hide in other countries”.
Hassan trained his guns at Apandi as well, asking whether the former attorney-general was not aware that Low was involved in the 1MDB scandal, which is said to have caused the Malaysian Government losses of more than RM50 bil.
Low is currently on the run and his exact whereabouts have not been ascertained, although he is rumoured to be in China.
He has since been charged in absentia in the United States, as well as back home in Malaysia, for alleged crimes linked to 1MDB, including money laundering.
Najib is currently standing trial for various 1MDB-related offences. – July 17, 2022
Main photo credit: Malaysia Gazette
